All You Need To Know – Key To The Chart

The ‘All You Need To Know’ chart tells the story of personal growth. It dares to suggest that the seemingly complex, often daunting prospect of personal transformation is a much easier mountain to climb than we may think. In our pursuit of progress we have managed to complicate that which is simple and in the process have lost sight of what is really important. This chart offers you a simple formula to find or reclaim your true purpose. A tall order but one we know it is possible to achieve. The real question is: will you do what it takes? … The choice is yours because no one can stop you other than yourself! The simple formula is: KNOWLEDGE + APPLICATION = PERSONAL POWER.

Let us explain… Each of the numbers below corresponds to the same number on the chart and offers a summary of what is meant by the statements in the oval-coloured images. These explanations are not definitive but they offer enough (we hope) to clarify the journey from dysfunction and despair to optimum health and personal power. Judge for yourself. See if you can see yourself in the mirror of this chart.

HOW TO USE THE CHART

You will notice that some of the lines connecting the different coloured oval shapes have an arrowhead at both ends. This is because it is possible to travel in both directions between the various psychological destinations. For example, one can see that greater understanding (3) can lead to application (4) as the individual comes to realise that knowledge is not enough and that it’s one’s actions that really count. Once the truth of this has been really embraced the person is able to make contact with a greater depth of understanding. This greater understanding (3) then leads to further application (4). As a result a ‘knowing’ (insight) beyond the limits of the intellect is unveiled as one moves towards experience (5).

It is also important to stress that the numbers have been used to help you understand and use the chart. There is some limited, chronological significance but this is not a story about the numbers; it’s about what’s contained in each oval. The numbers could just as easily be some other symbol. So see each number in the context of the explanations listed below and don’t get caught up in viewing the journey through the chart in a strictly sequential manner; like progress itself, it simply doesn’t work like that.

1. The journey begins with the ‘old and familiar’: these are your patterns, habits, moods and tendencies etc. This includes all the forces that hold you back such as: anger, fear, doubt, low self esteem, apathy, procrastination, anxiety, feeling unworthy, panic, disillusionment to name a few. There are so many self-limiting forces and most of us have a ‘heady-mix’ of them that busily deceive us. So of course we want to find a way out. This is what personal growth is about: generating light where there is darkness, offering comfort where there is despair and giving support where there is little hope. The antidote for these ailments, in the first instance, is knowledge. Knowledge is that light. It offers comfort and support and much more but as you will see knowledge alone is not enough. (For further information see: NOSE 1 & 2, Understanding Your Blind Spot and Who Are You When No One’s Looking)

2. To break free from the feelings of not being good enough and fear of being found out, we first need knowledge: we need to know ‘how’ we can escape these feelings. In some cases the individual needs to know ‘if’ he/she can ever be free of such feelings. This is because so many start the journey doubting that ‘emotional freedom’ can ever be their reality. Once the knowledge of how we can be free is understood our awareness, and with that our desire, grows. Knowledge (of the human condition) makes it clear that personal liberation isn’t the privilege of a few but belongs to the many. As the individual’s awareness begins to expand so too does their intoxication. There is a new-found euphoria and excitement that fills the mind and body. It’s as if the person is ‘waking up’ and seeing things they’ve never seen before – and yet they’ve always been there! If only we could maintain this feeling … We can … How? Read on and you will see. (For further information see: Resolution Creates Space, Time and Energy, Sustainable Solutions, and Change Through Compassion – audio)

3. Greater awareness eventually leads to a deeper understanding. It is often said ‘the devil is in the detail’ which is true but never forget the truth is in the detail too! Awareness does not automatically mean we understand. To understand takes time, reflection and patience. For many this is the point of their downfall, time and time again they trip up at this juncture. Why?.. Impatience. Impatience has a lot to answer for; it believes once we are aware of something we are somehow entitled to its gift or promise. It has no sense of earning and making effort. It believes it can cheat the laws of cause and effect. It also believes the moment the seed is placed in the ground, that in the next moment its fruit should have ripened and be ready to eat! It’s this myth that impatience disseminates that leads to countless relapses back into the ‘old and familiar’, damage and dysfunction. If there were ‘true’ understanding this immature and misleading impulse would never be able to take hold of our hearts and minds. In fact we would sit comfortably in the ‘knowing’ that patience eventually unlocks every door. (For further information see: The 3Ps, Routine is Power, and Old Friend, Dear Friend).

4. Those who sit, listen and reflect develop greater understanding. They don’t simply come to ‘know’ that ‘application is the fuel for change’, they in fact ‘realise’ that it is. To realise something, is to be driven to put it into practice. It’s a powerful compulsion that doesn’t rest until we act on it. What we know means very little until it is applied. In fact knowledge without application becomes a burden as it merely leads to more frustration, sometimes to anger and certainly disappointment with the self. Knowledge leads us to the door of understanding but it is courage and application that take us through that door. Experience and wisdom then await us on the other side. Notice that courage is also needed. Courage is not to be without fear (fearlessness) – that comes later. Courage is being unsure, being afraid but ‘doing’ it anyway. The journey of personal growth requires many leaps of faith, for there is so much we cannot ever know or experience without these acts of faith. (For further information see: Still Time 1 & 2, Courage and Application are the Keys ( audio) and Focusing with Faith).

5. The fruit of application is experience. Experience has quite rightly been described through the ages (largely in the East) as the ‘greatest authority of them all’. There is little doubt that the power that experience generates within the self is second to none. Experience allows us to see what knowledge can only imagine. It puts us in touch with a level of knowing and insight that is truly beyond the boundaries of the senses and the limitations of logic. In addition our own experience becomes an engine room for greater effort in our ambition for enlightenment and clarity of purpose. And so we find ourselves inclined to making positive choices. However, the shadow of the ‘old and familiar’ still lingers and if we lose sight of the formula ‘KNOWLEDGE APPLICATION = PERSONAL POWER’ then it is definitely ready to pounce! (For further information see: Inventory of Incongruence, The Four Stages of Personal Growth, and Key Principles for Growth 1, 2 & 3).

6. The power to choose is such a precious gift and the more you walk the road of application the more the choices you make are positive. The power you accrue from the experiences generated by positive action is awesome but be aware of complacency and arrogance for these are the primary enemies of personal growth. The more personal power is available to you the more humility is needed to channel and focus that power in responsible and productive ways. If one’s ego takes centre stage then divine reason swiftly retreats. Then the old traits, habits and tendencies reappear, often in a more attractive and alluring form and before you know it you’re under their spell again. Due to the mist created by the ego one becomes deluded into thinking all is well and that where problems exist they are due to others not oneself. The truth is though, under closer inspection, you’ll see that you’ve lost sight of the self and that your newly found power is actually being misspent. (For further information see: The Power of Choice (video),What is Ego? and Relating to Your Ego).

7. If on the other hand you use your experience and personal power in the right way then greater personal growth follows almost effortlessly, as momentum is the ‘engine of success’. Consistent practice generates momentum; the power of momentum makes that which seemed difficult easy, which in turn propels you towards the ‘new and unchartered’. It’s at this point that one truly realises personal growth and enlightenment isn’t a hobby or a fad – it’s a way of life and so one treats this ‘whole-person approach’ with the respect it deserves. This means better balance in all areas of life, such as: diet and nutrition, sleep, exercise, quiet reflective time, pampering, a life of meaning and purpose, greater pursuit of altruism and charity to name a few. By respecting Spirit, Mind, Body and Environment the fulfilment of your potential and purpose is guaranteed. (For further information see: The Story of Health 1, 2 &3, Spirit, Mind Body Plan, and Miracles Are Made).

8. The ‘new and unchartered’ is just that: new and yet to be discovered. What we can say is that this is the place where the ‘self-realised’ live. The ‘self realised’ are those whose four legs (mind, body, spirit and environment) of the table (the self), stand equally, properly positioned, and firmly on the ground. They live a life of balance and order and so are at peace. Their lives are filled with clarity, beauty, joy and contentment. As they are no longer slaves to the past, they fully embrace each moment with a spirit of gratitude and appreciation. Their celebration of life is infectious and they inspire others through their example. It is this mindset that enables them to move confidently through unchartered waters using the compass of their well-earned truth to guide them. This is a journey open to all of us… We invite you to take it for yourself.